Criminal Justice

This survey course designed to introduce students to the major components of the criminal justice process; police, corrections, and the courts. Students also study the nature of crime, delinquency, and law. This course meets a General Education Core Curriculum requirement. Fall and Summer.

This course examines the basic components of policing. The emphasis is on how police patrol, investigate crimes, and enforce the law in both rural and urban environments. The class is designed to introduce students to the wide and varied scope of police work. Class is only offered once every four semesters. Fall.

This course is a study of substantive criminal laws including an examination of its purpose, functions, and limits. The elements which constitute criminal offences are examined in order to familiarize the students with how the law dictates criminal behavior. The nature and scope of criminal defenses are also studied. Fall

This course is an analysis of the structure, function, and operation of both the federal and state court systems. It focuses on the roles of prosecutors, defense counsels, judges, jurors, court administrators, and probation officials. Spring.

Introduction to statistics for criminal justice covers descriptive statistics such as frequency distributions, mean, median, and mode. Additionally, it covers standard deviation, and standard scores. This course covers inferential statistics such as correlations, sampling, probability, confidence intervals, t tests, ANOVA, and other common computation methods. Spring.

The purpose of this class is to familiarize the student with some of the most important criminal justice issues of the day. The class is designed for the student to understand the difficulty decision-makers face in trying to make coherent and rational policies. Prerequisite: CRIM 105.  Fall.

This course examines the components of criminal behavior, specifically the extent and nature of crime in America, the theories of criminal behavior, and societal reactions to criminality. Prerequisite: CRIM 105 or permission from Program Director. Spring.

This class is an introduction to the various aspects of the correctional system; its historical development, the purpose and goals of punishment, sentencing alternatives, and the administration of prisons and jails. Fall.

This course is intended to acquaint students with the theories, approaches, and processes inherent in the American juvenile justice system. Class is only offered once every four semesters.

This course examines the procedural aspects of the criminal justice system with emphasis on the fourth, fifth, sixth, and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution on state and federal prosecutions. Topics include law of arrest, search and seizure, police interrogation and the privilege against self-incrimination, right to counsel, and due process. Spring.

This course explores the topic of substance use and abuse in society and critically examines drug policy in the United States. Specific topics covered will include drug typologies, history of drug policy, drug enforcement, addiction and recovery programs, and social factors that influence drug policy and enforcement. Special attention will be given to harm reduction strategies and drug issues in the Appalachian region, especially methamphetamine and prescription drug abuse. Offered once every four semesters.

The purpose of this course is to give you a basic understanding of how police agencies investigate crimes. The nature and scope of physical evidence is examined, the techniques of interviewing witnesses and suspects, and the specifics of investigating murders, robberies, thefts, larcenies, and other crimes is explored. Class is only offered once every four semesters.

This class examines the organizational and legal issues in the administration of Homeland Security and its efforts to implement and manage policies that are at the forefront of domestic security. Prerequisite: GOVT 211, course is offered only once every four semesters.

This course is an examination of the methodological foundations of the social sciences with an emphasis in criminal justice. Students are introduced to the logic and techniques of empirical inquiry, the nature of facts, the operation of concepts, the concept of hypotheses, and research designs. Junior SEWS Course. Prerequisite: CRIM 280.  Spring.

Periodically, criminal justice classes are offered which do not fit the traditional mold. The purpose of these courses are for the student to gain particular knowledge in an area that a faculty member has expertise in. Fall/Spring as needed.

This course has two purposes; how police organizations function and how the dynamics of leadership affect the quality of policing. For the first two-thirds of the semester, several key components to effective  police management will be discussed and analyzed. The last one-third of the class is a study of leadership principles that are applicable to almost any institution. Prerequisite: CRIM 105 or permission from the Program Director. Class is offered once every four semesters.

This class is an examination of the role and treatment of women and minorities as offenders, victims, and professionals in the criminal justice system. Class is only offered once every four semesters.

The senior seminar is a capstone requiring the student to use theoretical perspectives from practical criminal justice issues to formulate a related research topic pertaining to an issue substantively related to the study of criminal justice. The student will develop an original research project using concepts, theories, and skills developed in previous classes. Senior SEWS course. Fall.

This practicum is a supervised work experience with a selected criminal justice-related agency or organization designed to give the student actual experience in a particular area of criminal justice. The student will work 60 clock hours per credit hour for the semester or summer session. The practicum is available solely to criminal justice majors with junior-level status. The practicum is monitored and evaluated by a faculty sponsor, in verification and close consultation with the supervising representative of the business/agency. LMU retains ultimate control and supervision of the practicum. Prerequisite: Approval from the Program Director is required. Fall, Spring, Summer.